Brian's Whey Ricotta Cheese Making Experiences

[Brian]

My first one was fantastic.
My second didn't create any curds.  ( I didn't add any extra milk)
My third, I added a quart of milk and I had curds but, seeing that it was 11:30 at night I tried to hurry it.

ADVICE:
Don't squeeze the muslin to get rid of the whey.  Let it hang for an hour like it's supposed to.  Otherwise you get something like dry feta.
I'm going to just make whole milk Ricotta next time I need it.  Seems the other way (no pun intended) is a lot of work, but the quantity isn't there.
JMHO

Brian

[Cartierusm]

I love ricotta and I make a lot of home made raviolis, dough and everything, but after hours and hours of work I just don't want to make any more cheese that has to be consumed soon. I wish you could wait a day and still make it from the whey.

[saycheese]

Know what you mean about the whey ricotta.  It seems to be a lot of work for a very little bit of ricotta, when you are already tired from making cheese all day.  We make Ricotta Gnocci with the whey ricotta and then freeze them.  When we have enough gnocci in the freezer then we feast on gnocci and tomato sauce.

[Cartierusm]

I wonder why you can only make ricotta from whey within a few hours?

[Brian]

Because some evil person thought it would be a good joke to do MORE cheese after spending a good part of the day making something else... ::)

B

[Cartierusm]

LOL

[DeejayDebi]

You can let your whey sit out for up to 24 hours before making the riccotta from it. It seems to increase the acidity and yield letting it sit at least over night.

I always squeeze my riccotta somewhat - then I don't have to strain it before using it. It should not be the consistancy of yogurt although the US commerical versions are always watery like that.

There are also different types of riccotta that are actually pressed and aged to form a soft rind and white mould and quite delicious.